Top-Down Success Formula
Written by Katrina Daniel Tuesday, January 04 2011
Snapshot: Wendy Johnson
Wendy Johnson is president and owner of Dale Carnegie of Georgia.Her résumé indicates that Johnson possesses considerable people and organizational skills. She is the mother of Alexandra, a recent Kennesaw University graduate who earned her degree in biology. Johnson describes her daughter as “a chip off the old block. She is a scientist, with a personality.”
Johnson managed to segue from a job as a flight attendant for Pan American World Airways to business development specialist for several of the country’s biggest companies.
She has held top management jobs with corporate giants Transamerica Corp., Martin Marietta, and Bank of America, among others. Now, Johnson spends her time teaching and promoting Dale Carnegie’s leadership development programs.
Womenetics: How did you become involved with Dale Carnegie?
Wendy Johnson: While working for Carreker Corp. as global sales manager of the fraud products division, I was charged with the responsibility of opening South Africa for our products and services. On Sept. 11, 2001, I was on a business trip in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was painfully trapped outside the country for a week. As a result, my daughter was left without parents in Atlanta. It was during this trip that I experienced a great epiphany regarding the importance of my daughter, my family, my country, and my local community.
It was one thing to be in the United States during this nightmare; it was another altogether to be trapped outside the country – a frightening time. It was from this event that I decided to find a new business, one that involved giving back to my local community and remaining close always to my family. Once one creates a vision, magic does happen because shortly thereafter, I met someone looking for a partner to purchase the franchise, Dale Carnegie of Georgia.
They were seeking a partner with experience in business development and with expertise in many industries; this was absolutely my perfect fit.
Womenetics: How would you describe your leadership style?
Johnson: Having experienced so many different leadership styles from the receiving end, I have settled on what I believe to be the most effective for me. I subscribe to service leadership and modeling the management style, meaning that my team knows that not only am I able but also willing to stand in the weeds when necessary.
On an everyday basis, I ask no more of my team than I am willing to do myself. Because I serve my team, I believe that I earn their respect and their willing cooperation. As a result, the basic foundation of our work environment is trust. All our team members are familiar and concerned with the basic personal value system of each team member.
From the top down, work-life balance, authenticity, customer service, attitude, and high energy levels are deemed the underpinnings of the success of our business.
Womenetics: What common mistakes do women in the workplace make when assuming leadership roles?
Johnson: Some women might believe they need to behave more like a man when assuming a leadership role. That may be manifested in a big voice or it may be demonstrated with an autocratic style. It is not necessary to show team members that we are powerful; we must focus on creating followers. Being a woman, showing some measured emotion, compassion, femininity, and vulnerability can be more powerful than taking a tough guy approach. Reliability is a strength that many women possess, and it is extremely powerful in building trust inside and outside the company. Leadership is not a command post.
Womenetics: How have you been able to adapt Dale Carnegie’s teachings to a high-tech, although sometimes socially disconnected, world?
Johnson: There has never been a time when communication and human relations skills are more important. With the advent of technology and the truncation of in-person communication, some current and future leaders are deplete of the of the necessary human relations and communications behaviors to be successful.
Because there will be a shortage of leadership as baby boomers retire, companies will have to pre-promote gen Xers and millennials to fill this gap. We at Dale Carnegie are uniquely positioned to step into this role.
Womenetics: In your role as a leader, what is the single most important piece of advice to anyone aspiring to be successful in her field?
Johnson: No matter what business we choose, to be successful we must remain a constant student of new ideas and stay abreast of the dynamic changes taking place in our world, as the impact of technology and its use by the newest generation begins to affect how companies do business. We cannot rest on what works today; changing, updating, and reinventing are constants today.
Womenetics: What are a few things that most people don’t know about you?
Johnson: I brought the troops out of Vietnam during the war. If captured, I had a Geneva Convention Card that made me a second lieutenant in the Air Force.
Womenetics: Details please.
Johnson: I was not hand selected, but it was a choice I made to be involved with the war. Pan Am had a regular trip into Saigon a few times a week, bringing the troops in and out. This was in addition to special charters from the various air bases around California.
So, this flight went from Manila into Saigon and then on to Guam, then Hawaii, and back . . . [to the mainland]. After leaving Saigon, we would pick up regular passengers.
On a few occasions, during the end of the war, we were involved in the baby lifts, where we brought unescorted infants to the United States. These babies were the offspring of the troops and the local women. Because they were mixed breed, they were considered discards by the country. We brought them to the United States to be adopted. Many were very sick with rickets, and they were kept in boxes under the seats on the 747.
Wow, when I think back on this, it really was amazing to be involved at that time. One time on a trip to Singapore, I was awakened in the middle of the night at my hotel and taken to the airport. Men with machine guns were surrounding a 707 out in the field and on board were the families of Vietnamese airmen who had escaped with their families and flown for asylum to Singapore.
Singapore did not want to be involved. The United States stepped in and took these Vietnamese to Saipan for asylum. We were the crew members for this flight. It was fascinating to speak to the airmen and their families – whole families: aunts, uncles, children, grandparents, in all sizes and shapes and conditions.
At one point during the end of the war, those of us who were out in the Pacific on trips were contacted to donate extra uniforms for flights going into Saigon where relatives of airline personnel and high officials were being smuggled out of the county as flight crew.
We were there at the end of the war. There were mad flights in and out. It was a scary time for sure.
Katrina Daniel is an award-winning journalist and broadcast reporter/anchor. She has worked in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and as a national correspondent for several networks. She commutes between Miami and the Carolinas, writing for magazines and news organizations. She lives with one horse, four dogs, and a cat.
